Long Distance DIY Photo Book

by

Sydney Hilderbrand

-

June 20, 2017

Saying goodbye to somebody you love is hard- HARD– and the best way to keep memories close is through pictures! Whether it’s a friend going off to college, a loved one moving far away or a family member being deployed, the Share Your Photos App is the perfect way to keep everybody in the loop and create those picture perfect moments that you want to remember!

The Share Your Photos App is a free app that allows multiple people to upload pictures and videos into one collective album. If you’re familiar with the way a shared photo album works for iPhones, then you understand what it’s like to have a shared album. BUT what happens when dad has an android and grandma doesn’t have a smartphone at all? This is why you need the Share Your Photos App. It can be downloaded from multiple devices – iPhone or Android phones AND Mac or PC computers. Basically, if you have the internet, you can access the photo album.

Through the Share Your Photos App, you can order custom prints and gifts with the click of the button. HEREis a list of all the fun things you can order 🙂

DIY Photo Book

If you want to make your loved one a cute, memorable going away gift, the app is the perfect tool to use. Here’s how I made a photo book for a close friend who was being deployed:

Step One: Choose your favorite pictures and order them through the Share Your Photos App. They will be delivered to your doorstep in 5-7 business days.

Step Two: Take your old magazines and cut out pictures that would make a cute background. You are looking for patterns or letters that can spell out a cute phrase like “I love you”. Also look for things that your significant other likes – Oreos, camping, donuts, etc. Cut these out!

Step Three: Take the pictures you ordered from the Share Your Photos App and cut around the individual people. You want to make sure you have different shapes and sizes so that you can create a collage onto an index card.

Step Four: Once you have everything cut out, it’s time to grab the index card and the glue stick. You can design your photo book however you’d like, but I chose to display my pictures vertical because that’s how my pictures fit best on the page. Take an index card and fill it up with pictures and magazine cutouts. Try your hardest to get rid of all the white space on your card (it’s cuter this way). Take a glue stick and start gluing down the images. I recommend only gluing down the middle of the pictures so that you leave room to move the magazine cutouts around.

Step Five: Make as many pages as you’d like 🙂

Step Six: Once you have all of your pages made, it’s time to get out the mod podge. Take out your foam brush and begin layering the mod podge on top of all the photos. YES, it looks wet and makes the magazine pages sort of shrivel up but THAT’S OKAY. It will dry clear and give your page a glossy finish. Trust me, you want to add the mod podge so that your pages last longer.

Step Seven: Now it’s time to punch the holes! Let the pages dry over night so that they’re completely dry before hole punching. Get out a three-ring hole punch and adjust the settings so that only two punches will apply to your page. Since the page is only 8×10, three holes makes it a little crowded.

Step Eight: After you put holes in all of the pages, take the binder rings and connect the pages (like a book). I like using binder rings because you can easily add and take away pages.

This project is fun because you can add new pages whenever you’d like. Feel free to make a cute cover for your photo album so that the first and last page can have a little more protection! For holidays, birthdays, weekend trips, or whatever the event may be – it’s very easy to create a new page and send it to your loved one in the mail.